Moaning On Together: GFH – Bright New Era Or Another False Dawn?

Welcome to the first ever Moaning On Together, a new feature here on The Scratching Shed where we harness the power of social media to gather the thoughts of the Leeds United fanbase on key issues currently surrounding the club and collate them into a post.

For the first Moaning On Together, we asked fans via our Twitter and Facebook page for their first impressions of new owners GFH. Are they the long overdue saviours of Leeds United, here to guide us towards a brighter future? Or are they yet another false dawn to add to the ever growing weight of crushed hope fans of this club carry with them? Here’s what the fans thought…

The power of positive thinking is key to success according to Ginny Leonard who is confident Leeds United have a bright future under GFH. In-keeping with Ginny’s optimistic stance, she adds that she’s “fed up of hearing people moaning about LUFC” – I doubt all the money in the world would change that unfortunately, just look at squillionaires Chelsea’s misplaced booing of Rafa Benitez on his debut (he didn’t sack Di Matteo, did he?) Football fans will always find something or someone to complain about no matter how good they have it.

Nevertheless, optimism seemed to be prevalent amongst the fans, though a lot of it was tempered by frustration at Ken Bates’ appointment as lifelong club President. No doubt a clause he insisted on before agreeing to sell.

Philip James Towler typifies the general mood saying that he’s “sorry to see Bates kept on” but believes “GFH want to bring success back to Elland Road” and, like many others, suspects that Bates Presidential role was the only way to get the deal done. Craig Sweaton adds “I’d love to be optimistic but as long as Bates has an involvement in the club I’ll be worried.”

Duncan Kirby builds on Craig’s response, adding “I have to question Haigh’s claim to be a lifelong Leends United supporter if he can install Bates as president. As long as he has anything to do with the club, there is a shadow over everything. No new dawn until Bates is gone and everything he touched has been thoroughly sterilized.”

Such is the level of ill-feeling many fans hold towards Ken Bates, some are refusing to lift a boycott of attending matches while ever he remains at the club. Tony Steele was one such fan, explaining that “I am very concerned that Bates remains at the club in any role whatsoever. The fact that this has been agreed shows a lack of understanding of the feelings of the fans. I will still not be attending whilst Bates is at the club.”

Despite some fans lingering doubts and anger at the Ken Bates clause, GFH can rest easily knowing that the majority of the fanbase seems to be happy at the start they’ve made and are confident of a brighter future for the club. Ben Parker (@bensuperparker) says he’s impressed with the fast rate of progress since the deal was agreed, praising GFH for two quality loan signings.

Finally, Jordan Turner (@JordanTurnip) says his only complaint is “people begging them for a [retweet].” Couldn’t agree more Jordan. Fans who follow Salem Patel and David Haigh on Twitter may have noticed their timelines being spammed by poorly spelt tweets from individuals desperate for attention – the “I’m the greatest Leeds United fan ever, please give me some attention” kind. It’s basically the same as taking a musical instrument into a football stadium hoping that everyone will love you for it. They won’t, stop it.

Apologies to all those fans whose replies we didn’t feature. In the interests of keeping this particular feature concise, we took a sample of each viewpoint to try and get across as many different opinions as possible. Feel free to add further comments below.

Follow The Scratching Shed on Twitter and/or Facebook to send us your thoughts for the next edition of Moaning On Together.

I wanted to say thanks and congratulations for completing the transaction for Leeds United, which has been a long time coming and is the end of what has been a very uncertain time for all concerned.

As a fan of Leeds for over 30 years, I have seen championship winning sides in 1990 and 1992, but my time as a Leeds fan has contained more disappointment and anguish than positivity, sadly. There has been no period more disheartening than the tenancy of Ken Bates, who has perpetrated what I believe is the biggest sin of all; alienating the core fan base over time and personally killing my passion for the club I used to love. The proof of this is clear to see; witness a half-full, moribund and disgruntled Elland Road for every league match.

Therefore I would like to echo the comments of other supporters, and press for the removal of Ken Bates at the earliest possible opportunity. I realise that transitional periods following a takeover are important, but following the end of this period at the end of the season, I feel his ongoing presence at the club will have an adverse effect and only serve to antagonise our completely disenfranchised supporters even further.

The impending sense of mood and doom around the club has been both tangible and depressingly familiar, with even more passionate supporters than myself refusing to attend Elland Road until he departs unequivocally. Looking at Huddersfield Town as an example, they have a superior squad (though it pains me to say it) but also a very close and two-way relationship with the local community. In stark contrast, Ken Bates has had numerous court cases since he has been at club, diverting resources away from what is at the very core of any football club, the playing squad. How does the banning of The Guardian newspaper and Radio Leeds from Elland Road reflect positively on the club? Why did Bates feel the need to do this? Moreover, why did he label the supporters as “sickpots” or “morons” for daring to express dissatisfaction with his stewardship of the club?

I’d like to outline some other steps that GHFC could take to win back the hearts and minds of supporters to rectify the multitude of wrongs perpetrated by Bates during his tenure:

Winning back the supporters – focus on the football

You will receive countless emails begging for large investment in the squad so I won’t repeat how important that is here. But stating that promotion is the target next season would be very well received, and supporting those words with positive action, is the best way to win back scores of unhappy Leeds fans. Leeds fans are honest and know when they are being lied to.
Working in a timely fashion to negotiate contracts with the better players in the squad has been another task that we failed to manage properly under Bates’ management. We have lost several assets at heavily discounted rates, simply because agents were holding the club to ransom and the management could not (or would not, more likely) meet their demands.
Please, no more property projects around the stadium at the expense of the playing squad, please. We have had enough of hotels, casinos, restaurants, not to mention the £7m investment in the redeveloped East Stand. Ask any Leeds supporter what they truly think of that. What good is it to have a wonderful new stand with both corporate and regular seating filled to a third of its capacity?

Rebuilding ties with the community and media

Building better relations with the local media such as BBC Radio Leeds to re-engage with the local community. This would reach a much larger audience than the current media outlet, Yorkshire Radio. The overwhelming opinion of this property amongst fans is highly negative, and is deemed to be a mouthpiece for Ken Bates to air his weekly grievances relating to policemen, pregnant women and whoever knows whatever else. It smacks of amateurism and is also loss-making – how has Yorkshire Radio contributed to the success of Leeds United?
Grow better partnerships with local schools and amateur football clubs to ensure that our community has a part to play in Leeds United. I cannot recall a time supporting Leeds as bad as this when so many people feel so utterly depressed about supporting the club. As I mentioned earlier, people have fallen out of love. Let’s get people back on side.
Linked to this, supporters have been alienated by exorbitant ticket prices, which, if sustaining a challenge for promotion, could be tolerated. However, we all know that this has not been the case. The sale of key players such as Max Gradel and captains Robert Snodgrass and Jonny Howson have rightly infuriated supporters, who have paid Premier League prices to watch very average Championship football. However, I realise that this is a key revenue stream for the club, but for certain games when attendances are likely to be low, the introduction of “kid for a quid” scheme, or reduced ticket prices for bulk purchases could help to boost crowds. For example, Middlesbrough reduced ticket prices to £12 for their recent televised game with Sheffield Wednesday, yielding an attendance of 28,000. Needless to say, the team won, and supporters left happy in the knowledge that their club on their side in this difficult economic climate.

Strengthening the club’s assets

Please focus on the youth academy which is once again starting to show roots of recovery with talent such as Chris Dawson, the Turner twins, Simon Lenighan, This is of huge importance and David as you well know, sales from academy players such as Woodgate, Smith and Carson kept the club afloat during the dark days of the Ridsdale era.
The purchases of Elland Road and Thorp Arch were not completed as part of this transaction, but I believe that this is a crucial task to achieve within the next two years. Supporters would welcome the chance for these two fantastic assets to be under our direct control once again, as we are led to believe that we are paying extortionate rental amounts for them.

Please do not lie to the Leeds fans or disparage them as Bates has done several times. Leeds fans have been extremely loyal over a long period of time, supporting the team in large numbers with often disappointing results. We deserve some reward, some statement of intent, an air of positivity; anything to cling onto.

The two loan signings of Jerome Thomas and Alan Tate are definitely very good news and have been well received by supporters. Just please don’t let the positivity end there!

I wish you the very best and hope to meet you all at some point in the future,

Completely agree colin…but it was wound down because of the Massive debts ridsale left us with,an expence we could ill afford when we were in sink or swim mode…at least the evil bearded one had the fore sight to ressurect it again when we were back afloat,or should i say re-vamp it before i get nit-picked….a descion which is now bearing fruit.

Our money went into the youth academy – our tickets sales, our shirt sales. Ken did not put a penny of his own money in.
Ken has spent more (of our money) on Yorkshire Radio than the Academy. And he’s spent a lot lot more on lost court cases than the Academy. What a hero.

TUPPA

The meddling old fool should have just let us go into liquidation and go under,what does he know ? Thats why you have millions colin.

DUBLIN LUFC

Bates has bassically done the football equivalent of pulling someone out of a house fire only to keep them locked up in a fritzel style dungeon for the next 8 years. then invite your bahrani goverment mates round to join in.no strangers to the ‘slow arousal’ of torture themselves.

I will not be easy getting the balance right between nurturing our own players and recruiting the ‘ready-mades’ able to propel us in short order into the Premiership. We don’t want to end up with a bloated squad, comprising a large number of oldish ‘pros on decent wages, which may either discourage our younger players or lead to their being sold. I think I prefer us to build a side of young players and wait a season or two than go into the Premiership with a squad bult for short term purposes alone.

As a Leeds fan of the fairly young age of 27, i dont remember past glory days (ok so 92, but i was only a kid then) i have vivid memories of both champions league and as far down as league 1. I’d love to go to every game but as i live and work in P’boro im unable to, i get to away games when we play the likes of coventry n forest and the like (not posh tho cos i refuse to sit in the home end of a posh game…….) I dont feel Bates being a self appointed president will keep me away from game, I love LUFC always have, always will. I will say im not particularly happy about him being involved but he knows a lot more about the running of a football club than GFHC so (i think) so the decision has some sense behind it.

Lets just hope that GFH will lead us into a brighter future, and let the stayaway fans do that if they so wish. I will still go to as many games as i can get to, and tune into LUTV for the ones i cant. MOT

Aidsey

I think we have to move on and get over the Bates hate campaigne. We have new owners who seem determined to get us back on track and already showed their intent with the two new signings. Looking forward to January and as long as we’re in touch i see no reason why we can’t go up this season. MOT
Aidsey

Exiled White

I would like to see Leeds in the top flight, who wouldn’t, but with a squad capable of staying there, not for one or two seasons. It ain’t no good going up and coming back down again.

TimPM

The thing is, with the massive para payments to be had for just staying 1-2 seasons, we would be more likely to stay up long-term so long as we got a step on the ladder than struggling against others with 10mil or so per season in relegation cash until we were sure we’d never be relegated again.

——————

mikelufc

Going up and coming down again has to be far better than not going up at all, at least as long as the parachute payments are not being leeched out, I suspect they may well be with this combination of finance house and the master leech himself.
The best course of action is (in my view) to continue non financial support until bates is gone and we are told exactly what these arabs have bought.
Is the club still to be paying rent to the bastard bates?
I believe that is almost certain.

DUBLIN LUFC

Bates doesn’t own ER or TA, which makes the £44m price tag on us seem ridiculous, seeing as the rent will stay the same even if the stands are only half full.
Not sure what GFH are getting for their money exactly. Only reason i can see that they couldnt get rid is if they didnt have enough money for the deal in the first place. 2 loan signings in, 2 out. Its not mega-bucks.
No mention of funds in January or buying back ER, TA ether. If they plan to do this, why not mention it?

Might get a few more fans back to home games. Much more likely is they haven’t mwntioned money cos there is none.

Wheres Wally

If he ever got out of the club we could. but while the parasite is still there i dont trust him one inch. nor should anyone unless youve been fast asleep for 8 years.

TUPPA

Bates will have little or no power because he is no longer the owner…the stayaways are using him as an excuse now..their choice ,support the team ,give GFH our backing and lets move forwards…..if we had a billion to spend ,some would stop away because they didnt like the colour of the socks…M.O.T. on on on

jimmy

Bates does have something to do with the club. He still gets paid and where does that money come from? Season ticket sales, gate revenue, merchandise. He has his grubby paws in everything and i fir one will not pay one penny whilst he is associated with the club. The man is a parasite and has dragged this club down. Thank good he hasn’t been able to do what he said he would in his Chelsea days and that is to see us out if the league. He tried his best but failed.

Michael Lazarou

And you for one then won’t be helping the team or cheering them on then even if bates will have no say in team or players bought or sold, it’s people like you that we have lost the atmosphere at Leeds and team losing support , so why don’t you stop posting then and go and find another team to support we don’t need negative people like you , we want fans who will come and cheer the team on who say on wards and upwards, and not looking back

The club president is not a paid position, it’s just a title. They have no active involvement in the running of the club (Lord Harewood wasn’t sanctioning player sales for example) therefore, they don’t get paid. The only people with any power are those that hold the shares.

mikelufc

Quite right Jimmy, this tuppa is either a bates lover or born with only the right side of his brain working. Not a proper Leeds fan at all.

I don’t think it’s as black and white as you’d like to think, but I do agree Bates will have no power without any shareholding.

vade

i think this bates thing is getting ridiculous. weve been taken over and where are the fans? it seems to be an excuse not to watch leeds. the money isn’t going to bates no more, its going to GFH. people need to grow up and come support the team, i dont like bates my self and i would love him to be completely out but what can he do now? nothing the president doesnt have any say. i think we should all stop using bates as an excuse and go support our team. tbh i reckon even when bates leaves the fans will still come up with some excuse not to go.

TUPPA

Bang on mate

mikelufc

Bang on my arse!
How do we know there’s no money in it for bastard bates???
When in his entire life did he ever give his services for fuckall?
IS HE STILL THE OWNER OF THE GROUND AND TA????
If so then he is still coining it in big time.
Some folks need to evolve a brain, I thought David had more sense than he is showing.

Let’s be fair, some fans did return, I know this because I was one of them. I cancelled my ST (which I’d held throughout the entirety of Ken Bates’ reign and before that) at the end of last season because I could no longer justify giving him my cash. I continued to attend away games and the second the takeover was announced, I booked tickets and returned to Elland Road, as I know several others did too. I genuinely think we’d have been looking at 17k~ Saturday had it not been for the takeover, but instead we did 21k, and I think it will continue to rise as fans start to believe this really is the end of the Bates era.

In the meantime, I think you have to forgive their cynicism after so many years of being lied to. I want to see 30-40,000 back at Elland Road every week, but it’s not going to happen overnight. New owners will have to repair the damage, but I’m sure they’re aware of that and capable of doing so.

I can’t believe the short-sightedness of some people! To say that we look for reasons to stay away is ridiculous and quite frankly, childish. I just got totally sick of handing over £100 of my hard earned money every week in order to listen to broken promises, and see a decent team dismantled to make the frontage look like Chelsea.
If you take a little time to consider it, it makes no sense to keep the second most hated man in football as figurehead of our club. The police hate him, most fans hate him, the F.A. hate him, the inland revenue and banks all hate him so just one question….Who benefits by making him Club President? I just don’t trust the sneaky old twat!

I consider myself a true fan who made a very difficult decision. What other effective way do fans have to show their displeasure, after all, do you think he cares if you chant “Bates out!” but still give him your cash? Think about it mate.

TUPPA

GFH now own the club…BATES will be on wages till he is gone granted…if people dont go to support the team and club then we will be playing sunday league…its that simple…if you cant afford to go thats fair enough craig..but the BATES excuse is now history..no offence but if you choose not to go why spend time trying to justify it…your voice will be far more appreciated in the ground Cheering the lads on.

mikelufc

It is quite clear that this tuppa does not possess the ability to think.

Bluesman

God man you are so right, but this is a new era. Bates should be given the task of building bridges and bringing the fans back, now there is a challenge!

Exciting times!
It makes sense to keep Ken Bates and his team until the end of the season.
GFH will own 100%, which is all I wanted.
There is a lot we still don’t know, but KB is happy they have the funds for the future.
Will they be buying Elland Road & Thorpe Arch, any time soon?
As president, KB will have no power, or say, in the running of Leeds United.
He won’t be able to do any more program notes!! Yes!
He will be a figurehead. Nice to imagine him tied to the front of a big ship!!
My depression has lifted, and we all deserve a bright future for ‘our’ club.
The win really helped, as well!!!

Irving08

Yes, good win and a real game for the first time in a while. If Bates is not to have any power, why keep him on ? And why would Bates not wish to buy into the club ? He’s got more money now. GFH is just a fund manager after all. And we don’t if or by how much the purchase is leveraged.

Well I say it’s a bright new era. How could it be anything else? It stands testament to what we’ve become that some still continue to moan despite being taken over. Before GFH-C came along, our club had one voice – Ken’s, and if anyone disagreed with it, they were brandished a moron or an international enemy or taken to court or had their address printed in the match programme etc, etc.

How refreshing it is to have a Leeds United fan helping to drive the club. Already the GFH-C team have had more interaction with the fans in 2 weeks than Ken has in 7 years (unless you were lucky enough to get one of his telephone calls). If the GFH-C team want to retweet positive messages then I say good for them!!

TSS – you may deride those tweeters asking for a retweet, but getting a retweet will make that person’s day. I have received a reply tweet from David Haigh – and I liked it. A nice touch, a very nice touch. Makes a difference from being called a moron, sickpot and dissident.

TUPPA

Again i agree colin…in fact im now thinking after one of the clubs best weeks in a decade ,why has TSS introduced a weekly ‘moan in’?…can we not just enjoy the moment ?

So… fans complained that they weren’t listened to, and now that we have an ownership willing to listen, you’re going to complain about any attempts to get supporter opinion across?

No one said it has to be negative, it can be as constructive or positive as fans dictate, all we did was set the question and create a forum on which the fans views are aired in the vain hope someone will take notice – isn’t that what we all wanted all along?

Strange bunch football fans.

TUPPA

Why not celebrate the fact and REJOICE…why not have a weekly blog about all things we love about LEEDS ?? What exactly would it take to make you Happy,that would make intresting reading.M.O.T. you wanted opinions and you have got them.

I’m not unhappy, I’m delighted the takeover has completed. No point pretending everything is fine and rosy though, that kind of stupidity gets you nowhere.

There’s a lot of work to be done to turn this club around, the owners are willing to engage with fans and need to get them all back onside, I’m sure they’d rather know why they’re losing some customers. I know I would.

I work in a business not dissimilar from football in that sense, we go out of our way to satisfy every customer. There are a million and one ways for customers to let the company I work for know of any issues – they even monitor social networks, as do many companies nowadays – and they’ll go out of their way to address even the silliest little concern people may have. That;s good customer service and that’s key to any successful business. But it’s pretty impossible if they don;t know what people’s problems are, don’t you think?

You can’t please everyone, you never will. But there’s no excuse for not trying.

TSS – what is the point posting an article called “Moaning On Together: GFH – Bright New Era Or Another False Dawn?” if all you’re going to do is berate all the people who have the audacity to make positive comments?

Let’s get positive. Hold on a minute, haven’t we recently signed some loan players (funded by GFH-C) that would never have happened under the old regime (Warnock confirmed that GFH-C pushed through the Thomas deal) and we’ve just beaten Palace, top of the table and top of the form table also?

Stop being miserable. Is this what Ken has made you? Bitter, mistrusting and angry?

Again, I am positive. The title is a pun, the idea of the feature is to simply allow fans a say (in a more productive way than a pointless RT beg). I haven’t berated anyone for any comment, you and Tuppa took offence to the RT thing (which itself was a comment made by a fan I merely agreed with) and threw your teddies out.

TUPPA

No one has said it has to be negative….but the title is MOANING ON TOGETHER ?
strange bunch football Bloggers

Jesus, the title is a pun. Football fans are never happy, “Marching On Together”… I give up…

Greggo1919

I would, that guy is clearly a bit slack

TUPPA

A reply for every thing an answer for nothing…i to give up mate…nothing personal…ive just come to the conclusion this week after so many positives we have certain types that want to highlight the negatives..keep up the good work on here,it cant be easy…but im afraid its not the blog for me..i will not trouble you further…good luck for the future….MOT…lol

TSS – You’re out of touch. You’ve just called some of our fans cringeworthy and accusing them of begging. You’re bang out of order. On this point, you are 100% dead wrong. You don’t represent every fan and you certainly don’t represent GFH-C & Co.

If you want to put your stake in the ground and attack both fans and GFH-C for tweeting and retweeting then fine, do it. I think your attack is petty, pointless & worthless.

You’ve misread the mood TSS. Your finger is not on the pulse. Just because YOU think something, it doesn’t make it right.

I never claimed it did, it was written as my opinion. If people want something retweeted, try writing something remotely interesting. And I assure you, myself and Jordan aren’t alone in finding RT begs cringeworthy.

mikelufc

I think you are out of touch Colin!
What has happened to your good common sense?

Snowjoke

Colin. Calm down, Mate. We’re all in this together TSS’s MOT is obviously a tongue-in-cheek thing and it put a rare smile on my early morrning mug, for one. Only momentarily, mind. Better times might well be on the way back to ER but that doesn’t mean we can’t still be miserable old buggers if we want. Viewing everything affecting our grim, northern fortress through a sceptical, forensic lens. Harsh lessons have been learned so any humour will usually be “Gallows”. But that’s the Leeds way, innit

JayCartay

Hold on, if they haven’t bought TA and ER, what the hell is costing £52m??!?

Matthew

The name, the name Leeds United is the biggest in the Championship, and one of the biggest in England, although our squad is nowhere near that level, the clubs name is gold.

Bluesman

It is sad to say that one of Ken Bates greatest achievements has been to disenfranchise the Leeds United faithful and alientate so many people in such a short time. The core fanbase of Leeds United is damaged and it will take some hard work to get those people back. Of course we must remember that Ken also prevented Leeds from going to the wall, but he then lost the plot. The business was built as an assett and not focussed towards the core business. The once great and mighty Leeds United has been humbled by two men with totally different approaches. Risdale and Bates! I hope that Ken Bates starts to build bridges with the fans and especially with LUST. We needed LUST to express our frustration and to push forward and alternative strategy to the one being pursued by the board. If KB needs a challenge, then he should go about trying to win back the hearts and minds of the fans.

Lee B

KB staying on at the club still appears divisive.

I would be interested to see a poll that asked people whether they would:
a. return to ER now that the TO is done
b. stay away because KB is still involved

For balance, there could also be:
c. continue to go to ER (I never left in the first place)
d. I’m staying away because I can’t afford it (these are difficult economic times)

This would give us a better feeling for what proportion of people still feel that they can’t commit to attending ER while KB remains at the club.

If GFH are listening, maybe they’ll realise how much money they will lose in gate receipts, merchandising, etc. because of KB’s continued involvement.

Matthew

All that matters is GFH have a vested interest in the clubs success and will do whatever it takes to reach that level of success so they themselves make money, and ultimately this club moves forward with the right investment. If they fail, they can sell us on to someone else, either way we get a proper team building situation, something Bates never did. I’m happy.

AnnP

Rumours indicate that Mr Haigh “used to be” a Scum fan, and also that he once worked in the Virgin Isles. Mr Haigh it appears is not all that he seems.

TimPM

And that he has a pet alien chained up in his basement, and believes chickens are secretly part of a demonic conspiracy… Don’t pay much attention to rumours myself! ——————

This one might be true though TSS. Bates has been fucking us for ages!

Snowjoke

GFH almost certainly had to give Bates the Presidency to get the takeover done. If so, disgruntled fans might derive some consolation by thinking of him not as a figurehead but as a head on a stake outside the ground. Still leering, perhaps, but utterly powerless. And, as we all know, power to KB is like oxygen. What concerns me more is the nature of any other concessions, as yet unrevealed that may have been necessary to secure the deal. Things like control of the matchday programme notes, for example.

mikelufc

Not to mention collecting loads a rent!
All paid for of course by the paying fans……………………………

Irving08

TSS: I am not sure it is a good idea to start the week with this rubric. It doesn’t allow enough time for posters to refect fully on the previous Saturday’s match. It should be the lead rubric for more than one day.
In a way it is too comprehensive for a rubric at all – insofar as moaning is to be encouraged or invited (but why ?) it is best incorporated into reflection on other items.

mrbigwheels

Well TSS, I will embrace your pun and hope the tweeters can sort it out, seeing that it appears to be the most important issue that will move this club on!. All I know is what my business has taught me…. ‘familiarity can breed contempt’.
Ok I’m a killjoy, a miserable bugger but an expectation of having ones day brightened by merely submitting some mundane drivel to a few men who although not aloof certainly have better things to do than feel the need to spin the world of, yes… attention seeking fans.

What we should be expecting is a plan of leadership from our new owners and Board post their suggested date of December 21st. We are looking for intent, comittment and a clear objective to manage this club on a positive long term basis, a total opposite to the previous incumbent. I say incumbent, this is the problem that possibly 6/7000 fans will need to have a clear statement/explanation of. Last nights attendance was a little lower than I expected but reflects the spikey wedge that needs to be solved. Bates still owns this club, no new ownership is in place yet only merely a token input of intent to purchase, that Bates has accepted.

Ok it will all take place but Bates will take some moving on and GFHC are stuck with him… possibly even as a consortium investor. Timescale as always will reveal all and we do need to give GFHC a bit of time to enhance their fairly incredible turnaround of the morale embraced by team, manager and a massive percentage of fans in the last six days.

There is only one question I would want to ask GFHC in the first week of January 2013 and that is…..

How and when are you the new owners going to get Bates out of this club completely and if not… why not?.

SPELLZ

WTF? Forget Bates, new takeover new times support our boys they have just consecutively beat 1st and 3rd place were on the rise we always start well in a season and fade out of the playoff positions, maybe this year we can be the team who have’t made a great start but close in towards the end and nick a playoff or auto position, after all were meant to have one of the most loyal fan bases in the country stop whining about the no-name fcuking president and get behind us for the promotion push, new dawn new day.

We all need a bit more time to ascertain the plan GFHC have for LUFC – Bates is a sideshow now. The sooner he’s out the better mind you. Let’s push GFHC for updates on he masterplan – returning to the Premier League is the number one priority for LUFC and it’ll be interesting to hear GFHC talk about the next 2 years….what happens if we’re not promoted etc?

henrymouni

I suppose ‘all’ will be revealed when GFHC take control in 3 weeks time.
At least NW knows what is going to happen, and will have lined up his targets by then.
He needs them in quickly, when the window opens.
Moaning is a fan’s lot in life.
I live in the Manchester area, surround by moaning ManU, Man City & Liverpool fans.
Hard to believe but, unless they are top of the league, they are frustrated and disappointed.
They all want new players & new managers.
They all think they are paying too much (which they are) but not as much as us!!!!! Moan!

Onward and upward, with a few blips on the way.
So no more picking on TSS!
I think I’ve only disagreed with him once.
I said that Andy Carroll & Jordan Henderson were greatly overpriced, and I said Carroll was only worth £5 million pounds.
TSS disagreed and felt they were worth every penny!!
As long as TSS is not involved in bringing players into Leeds United, he will do for me!